PASSING ON THE GRAMMYS?
Stars rumoured to be skipping awards
Justin Bieber, Drake and Kanye West are said to be skipping the Grammys next month, even though each is nominated in major categories.
Website TMZ.com and Us Weekly are among sources reporting the big-name performers aren’t planning to attend music’s biggest night Feb. 12.
Bieber, from Stratford, Ont., has four nominations and Toronto-born Drake has eight. Neither finds the awards “relevant or representative, especially when it comes to young singers,” TMZ says. Bieber won his first Grammy last year — best dance recording for Where Are Ü Now — and also performed two tracks at the ceremony. This year, he is up for four Grammys, including album of the year for Purpose and song of the year for Love Yourself.
West, who debuted The Life of Pablo in 2016 and received eight nods, has previously vowed to boycott the Grammys if Frank Ocean’s album Blonde wasn’t nominated. Neither Blonde nor Ocean’s visual album Endless were submitted for consideration by the singer’s label, management or representatives before the September deadline (TMZ reports that Ocean thinks the Grammys don’t “represent young, black artists”), so it’s possible West is making good on his promise. A source also told Us that West wants time to himself after a few hectic months with his hospitalization and the robbery of his wife, Kim Kardashian, in Paris.
“He is taking some personal time at the top of this year to just chill and decompress,” the insider said.
Meanwhile, two more performers have been confirmed for the event: The Weeknd will perform with Daft Punk. The collaboration between the Torontoborn singer and the French electronic music duo is one of a number of pairings announced Tuesday. Anderson Paak will take the stage with A Tribe Called Quest and Dave Grohl. Maren Morris is set to perform with Alicia Keys.
James Corden of the Late Late Show will host the show on CBS.